This invention relates to a system of collectors for various conduits for the passage of fluids and electric cables in a dwelling comprising an inhabitable assembly which rotates or revolves.
One of the chief problems which arises in the erection and fitting out of revolving dwellings is that of the passage and connection of the conduits for supplying fluids (drinking water and domestic water, liquid or gaseous fuel) to the revolving dwelling areas, and for the discharge of waste water and for the passage of electric cables (distribution of mains electric current, telephone lines, television lines, for example).
To solve this general problem, it is essential to provide solutions particularly to the following three technical problems. A first problem is the heat insulation which has to be provided between the conduits for different fluids. For example, there has to be perfect heat insulation between a conduit supplying cold water and one supplying domestic hot water or one supplying heating fluid. This is a thermal problem connected with the comfort required in the dwelling.
A second problem is that of the independence and autonomy of different types of conduits. In a dwelling, in fact the following have to be provided, for example: a supply of cold water, a supply of domestic hot water, a supply of hot water or fluid for heating, an outlet for waste water or sewage, a supply of gas for kitchen stoves, a supply of electricity, telephone and television lines and, optionally, in more specific applications: one or more supplies of drinks (beer, soft drinks, wine on draught), a supply of fluid for refrigerators, a supply of compressed air, etc. With multiple distribution circuits of this kind, it is unthinkable that, if there is a breakdown or defect of some kind in one of the circuits, it should be necessary to switch off and therefore temporarily put all the circuits out of action and call in all the specialist services such as the plumber, heating engineer, electrician, telephone engineer, etc. Therefore, it is essential to design a system which ensures absolute independence and autonomy of all the circuits and a system which readily permits access to and enables the disconnection of a particular individual circuit.
Finally, a third problem is that of the possibility of adapting the system to particular applications, both when the dwelling is erected and at a later stage, if any modifications or extensions are made.
Certainly, there is already an apparatus, known as a rotary joint, which provides a means for supplying water and a liquid fuel or for evacuating waste water or sewage in a revolving dwelling. This apparatus is described in Belgian Pat. No. 642.617. The apparatus consists of a stuffing-box with concentric cylindrical cages which gives an axial flow, but this apparatus does not provide adequate insulation between the parallel circuits, with the result that it is hardly suitable for the simultaneous passage of cold water and hot water, for example, since the cold water would be heated by the stagnation of hot water or fluid in the cages. Moreover, this known apparatus in no way meets the requirements regarding the autonomy of the circuits and is not really suitable for the passage of multiple circuits, and in any case it would rapidly become too bulky for these multiple circuits, to the point where it would even constitute an obstacle to the fitting out of a revolving dwelling with a single central access, since it would encroach over too great an area of the dwelling space. Moreover, this apparatus cannot meet the requirements of adaptability to particular applications.
Nor is this known apparatus suitable for the passage of electric cables. Admittedly, there are rotary electrical connectors for this purpose, comprising rings and brushes mounted in a casing. However, this type of apparatus is not suitable for revolving dwellings, as the apparatus would have to be sent back to the factory if a ring or brush had to be added, and this is totally out of the question in practice. It is therefore necessary to have an apparatus which ensures perfect autonomy of the different electric circuits, i.e. the mains supply, telephone and television lines, etc.
To sum up, the technical problems involved in the passage of multiple conduits in revolving dwellings have not hitherto been totally resolved in a satisfactory manner. The invention sets out precisely to solve these problems and provide an overall practical solution for the passage of conduits in a revolving dwelling.